By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Rio Times will hold its second international arts and culture gathering of the year, the Rio Writer MixUp, tonight. Starting at 7PM, novelists, screenwriters and journalists, as well as publishers and film producers, will gather at Ipanema’s Gringo Café to discuss writing as a craft and how to navigate the business in both Rio and abroad.
Event partner and film producer Jan Roldanus of GreenGo Films will be on hand, after just returning from the Gramado Film Festival. The production company’s film, “Eden,” competed in last year’s Rio International Film Festival and won a Best Actress award for Leandra Leal’s performance.
“I think events such as this are essential for writers in Rio, writers anywhere,” Jan Roldanus told The Rio Times. “Writing is already a challenging profession and anything that supports writers and enables them to meet other writers and people who work with writers can only be a good thing. Writers need people to read their work and give them feedback – especially in film.”
“As a filmmaker, for me everything hinges on the screenplay, so the importance of writing in film can not be emphasized enough,” Roldanus added.
Also included among the very special guests for this event will be American journalist and author of the newly-released “Solteira no Rio de Janeiro” (“Single in Rio de Janeiro”), Julia Michaels and author of “Sonhando com Sotaque”(“Dreaming with an Accent”) and “Tropeços Nos Trópicos – Crônicas de um Gringo Brasileiro” (“Stumbling in the Tropics – Tales of a Brazilian Gringo”), Michael Kepp.
“I think the event is important to encourage those who write to continue doing so even if they aren’t getting published,” Kepp told The Rio Times. “My opinion is that anyone who writes his or her ideas, anecdotes or stories on paper is a writer, regardless if anyone else reads it.”
“Whenever anyone asks me why I write,” Kepp continued, “I quote British novelist E. M. Forster who wrote: ‘To know what I think, I need to see what I say.’ This is especially true for someone like me who writes personal essays. I often need to put and organize my thoughts about a subject on paper before my opinion about it becomes clear.”
At the Rio Writer MixUp, the Gringo Café will offer a 2-for-1 caipirinha and caipivodka special and R$10 glasses of Fine Wines with dinner (entrées, salads and sandwiches) from 7PM until 9PM.
Fine Wines, a co-sponsor of the event, is a Rio-based wine distributor and club that helps those in Rio and beyond to discover the perfect wine for any occasion.
“I believe that good gastronomy and wine adds another level to an event and brings people together,” Tony Kemenesi of Fine Wines told The Rio Times. “It is a pleasure for Fine Wines to participate in this MixUp.”
Kemenesi said the selection of wines offered at the event tonight is “made from Monastrell grapes grown on gnarled vines in the rugged, arid climate of Alicante, Tarima blossoms in your glass with notes of licorice, chocolate and a hint of dark violets.”
Writers and written word enthusiasts are encouraged to attend what promises to be an evening of lively discussions, good wine and great food at the Gringo Café.
What: Rio Writer MixUp @ Gringo Café
When: 7PM-11PM, Thursday, August 15th
Where: Barão Da Torre 240, Ipanema
Entrance: FREE
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